Blog #11 TB in India 11-10-12

     India is the country who deals with more than a quarter of the world’s new tuberculosis cases. Foundations and scientists are working together to try and put together many different solutions to this problem that will work together in hopes of treating and preventing new TB cases. Strains of tuberculosis that are found in India are mutating to the point of treatment no longer working on them. This is happening because those with TB often miss their scheduled treatment times and because TB is largely being mistreated. A Mumbai doctor, Zarir Udwadia is very doubtful that these mutated strains of TB can be treated. He says that will the amount of mistreatment such as unqualified doctors diagnosing and prescribing patients and pharmacist giving out medicines without prescriptions, it is impossible. 

     There is a lot of corruption in the medical field with counselor reporting to the government that their patients finished out their complete treatments. A lot of the time this is not the case because these counselors only get paid when a patient completes the treatment. Many patients drop out of treatment once they start to feel better or when side effects get to uncomfortable. TB will not be totally cured without the full treatment time. A new method of fingerprinting is being used to track TB patient’s progress and to keep doctors and counselors honest. Even this method however has its drawbacks. The patient has to be willing to show up for their treatment in order for anything to work. One missed treatment can triple the time it takes to be healed. They say that the “fool proof method” is absolutely necessary to tacking this problem in India. This effort is one that need total commitment from every single person involved. The impossible is only impossible if a person makes it so.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/10/india-tuberculosis_n_2109219.html